Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Hosting the Olympic Games is an extraordinary occasion, and so is visiting a unique country like Brazil. In 2016 this unprecedented meeting between the legendary Olympic flame and the human warmth of the Brazilian people will give rise to the Rio 2016 Olympic Torch Relay.

The Rio 2016 Games Organising Committee announced that the Olympic Torch Relay will travel to each one of the 26 states in the country, visiting their capital cities, and the Federal District. As part of the promise of staging Brazilian Games, the Olympic flame will journey across some 250 cities and towns, reaching 90 per cent of the Brazilian population.

Carlos Arthur Nuzman, Rio 2016 President, said, "Upon being awarded the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games, we promised to involve the entire country, thereby ensuring it would be an event made by Brazilians, for Brazilians and with a Brazilian spirit for the world to enjoy. To stage the Olympic Torch Relay across the whole country is to fulfil that promise and give millions the chance to participate in an unforgettable celebration."

Following the traditional lighting ceremony in the Greek city of Olympia, home to the Ancient Olympic Games, the flame is expected to arrive in Brazil around 90 to 100 days ahead of the opening of the Games. It will be carried by at least 10,000 torchbearers across approximately 20,000km, in addition to flying about 10,000 miles over the country in the lead up to 5 August 2016, when it will light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony at the Maracanã Stadium.

Also launched today, the Rio 2016 Olympic Torch Relay logo hints at the Olympic Torch's design, which was selected through a national contest last year and is set to be unveiled later this year. Its warm colours are a reference to the flame and the human warmth of Brazilians, alluding to what is expected from the Olympic Torch Relay in Brazil: a unique event, where the celebration of Brazilians from every corner of the country will fuel the Olympic flame with captivating energy. The warm colours will be part of the look of the cities, which will also be fully unveiled later this year.

The torchbearer nomination process will take place in 2015 and will be conducted in collaboration with the Presenting Partners of the Rio 2016 Olympic Torch Relay: Coca-Cola, Nissan and Bradesco. Together, the three Presenting Partners offer a combination of operational capabilities, nationwide presence and knowledge of the Brazilian people, which will all be crucial to ensure a successful and accessible Olympic Torch Relay.

Flavio Camelier, Vice President of Coca-Cola Brazil for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, said, "We are writing yet another chapter in the history of our partnership with the Olympic Torch Relay. Since the Barcelona Olympic Games, in 1992, we believe in its power to thrill, to provide unique moments and to spread the Olympic spirit throughout the whole world."

François Dossa, Nissan of Brazil President, stated, "With the sponsorship of the Olympic Torch Relay, Nissan reiterates its trust in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, of which it is already an official sponsor. To Nissan, actively participating in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is essential to achieve our growth plans in Brazil and shows how much we are committed to the country. We want to be even more integrated into Brazilian life and the Olympic Torch Relay will allow us to bring, with our cars, one of the greatest moments of the Olympic Games to the entire nation."

Jorge Nasser, Bradesco Marketing Director, stated, "This initiative completes the cycle we started in 2009 with the support to Rio de Janeiro's bid to host the Olympic Games and we continue to be a part of that history. We believe that the Olympic Torch Relay is Brazil's window to the world, an event in which we will be able to show the Brazilian people in their entirety, our natural beauty, our diverse traditions, our varied culture. In a nutshell, the human warmth of our people, who embrace the whole world with open arms."